“Sophie we’re your friends. We are here for you, not matter what.” She pulled me into a hug, followed by Hudson and Willa. I sighed and let their warm envelop me.
Almost two hours had gone by before the adults returned. As soon as they were back in the room I hopped out of my chair.
“Punish me if you want,” I said. “But don’t punish my friends. They were just trying to help me and help the school.”
Headmistress Adiana held her hands up to slow me down.
“Sophie, calm down. No one is in trouble. In fact, it is I who should be thanking you. You were right. The wards were down the night you and your friends were exposed. It doesn’t seem like anything was bothered, but it’s extremely concerning. If it wasn’t for you, we might never have known.”
“Sophie, I’d like to apologize,” Professor Vickers said. “You guys came to me first, and I put you off. I should’ve taken you more seriously. In the future I will pay more attention to those dragon instincts.”
“What about Penelope, Drew, and Kylee?” The adults exchanged glances.
“The students have been located and they will be questioned. But unless they confess, there’s very little we can do.”
“But Da—” My father held up his hand to stop me.
“Sophie, I’m not doubting you. But it’s your word against theirs, and all of you were out in the middle of the night without permission.” I didn’t have time to protest again as Chief Winston addressed us.
“Since the humans have no proof of what happened, and Professor Vickers here confirms they no longer have any memory of what happened we are going to act like this never happened. It’s best not to make a big deal about it. We don’t want people to figure out the wards were down for any amount of time.”
“But can you restore their memories?” Professor Vickers shook his head.
“I’m sorry, Sophie. Memory magic is permanent.”
“Chief Winston is right,” the headmistress said. “It’s best not to make a big deal about this. We are going to lift all the restrictions on the students for the rest of the term. But please, Sophie, try to obey the rules for the remainder of the year.”
“I promise,” I said. As we headed out the door, my dad stopped me.
“I’m proud of you, darling,” he said. Things still weren’t perfect between us, but I appreciated the praise.
“Thanks Dad.”
Chapter Nineteen
“You guys really need to come to my house this summer. Willa will already be there. Just before school starts back, the faeries host this huge festival in the woods by my house. They’ve got great food, and dancing, and tons of vendors are set up. We faeries really know how to have a good time. Simon can come, too.”
It was the last day of classes and all around us people were lounging and chatting instead of shifting like we were supposed to.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you guys, the doctors think they have a fix for Mom.” Willa was lying on her back in the grass, letting the late April sun warm her face.
“That’s great! How is she doing?” Gracie was sitting on the ground twirling her fingers over the grass as she talked with us. Little purple flowers were popping up at her attention.
“She’s doing much better. Her last letter actually made sense. The doctor wrote and told me I can go visit her in June sometime. I still can’t believe our good luck. No doctors have wanted to take a chance on her until now. I never thought any doctors would take a chance on her.”
I opened my mouth to say something, but Hudson caught my eyes and shook his head. He was right, I didn’t need to bore Willa with my suspicions that her mom getting accepted into an experimental treatment had something to do with Willa helping discover the wards were down. It didn’t matter why it happened; it just mattered that Willa’s mom would hopefully be able to go home soon.
“The faerie festival sounds great to me,” I said instead.
“Hey guys, get to shifting, please,” Professor Atkins called from across the field. We pulled ourselves up off the grass and spread out. I opened my arms and lifted my head to sky before letting my dragon loose.
“I’m never going to lose you again, girl,” I whispered as she came forward and took over my body. She rocketed out of me in pure joy. When I was fully shifted, I caught Hudson still in human form watching me. I purred and wished my dragon was less open about what she was feeling. We hadn’t talked about the kiss, yet.
Things were looking up, and I knew no matter what life threw at me this summer or next year, I would always have my friends.
“You guys will text a lot, right?” Gracie asked as we were leaving class.
“Of course,” I told her. “Besides it will only be a few weeks until we see each other again. Simon would love to come to the festival. I’m sure we’ll be there.”
“Me too,” Hudson said. “I don’t want to spend more time at home than I have to.”
As the sun rose the next morning, my brain fought against consciousness. I was still wrapped in the fog and heaviness of sleep. The soft cotton of the covers enveloped me in comfort and warmth. Just a few more minutes. I rolled over and snuggled back in. Something on my back was itchy and sore.
I stretched my arm to reach behind me and scratch so I could go back to sleep. My fingers came into contact with something leathery and stiff. I wiggled and tried to push it out of the way. It wouldn’t budge. Reaching back further I felt something silky and thin. I tried to push it out of the way, harder this time. I winced as pain floated down through my shoulder blade. My eyes
